When Mom confronted him, Richard apologized for not trusting her. Mom simply took his hand and said, “You don’t have to choose between caring for your mother and loving me.”
After that, Sunday dinners changed. Richard sometimes brought Evelyn, and our family helped make her comfortable.
Mom still wore her red dress, Richard still brought flowers, and eventually he stopped watching the clock.
The secret I feared turned out not to be betrayal at all—it was love, responsibility, and a son trying desperately to care for his mother.
